The Abuse of Juvenile Prisoners in the Northern Territory Has Sparked a Royal Commission

After horrific abuse of juveniles inside the Northern Territory's Don Dale Youth Detention Centre was revealed by ABC's Four Corners on Monday night, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced a royal commission. Footage obtained by the program shows underage detainees exposed to tear gas while trapped inside their cells, during an incident in 2014 that was described by media at the time as a "riot."

NT Chief Minister Adam Giles also announced Tuesday afternoon that the territory's Corrections Minister John Elferink had been sacked in the wake of the Four Corners report, which also revealed young boys inside Don Dale were held in solitary confinement for weeks at a time. Lawyers discovered that five young boys, who escaped the centre in 2014, were put into 24-hour isolation for between 15 and 17 days as punishment. According to the ABC, the cells had "no running water, little natural light, and [the boys] were denied access to school and educational material."

The Chief Minister remained adamant neither he, Elferink, or other officials within government had seen the shocking footage before it aired last night. He alleged "there's been a culture of cover-up" within the NT prison system for a long time.

Human rights lawyer Ruth Barson told Four Corners that holding children in solitary confinement violated the UN Convention Against Torture."The UN's expert on torture has said there are no circumstances that justify young people being held in solitary confinement," she said. "Let alone prolonged solitary confinement."

"Like all Australians, I have been deeply shocked, shocked and appalled by the images of mistreatment at the Don Dale Centre," Prime Minister Turnbull told ABC Radio this morning. "We will be establishing a royal commission into these events, into this centre; we intend to do so jointly with the Northern Territory Government."

The PM said the commission would be established "as soon as possible," working with Chief Minister Giles, Attorney-General George Brandis, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Northern Territory Senator Nigel Scullion, and also Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs.

Commissioner Triggs, a guest on Monday night's Q&A said, "I have never seen conditions of that kind and I have never seen people treated in that way." Chief Minister Giles also expressed disbelief at the Four Corners footage, telling reporters that "like all Australians… [I] was shocked and disgusted by tonight's Four Corner's program."

However, the Don Dale centre has been the subject of long-running complaints around the mistreatment of its underage inhabitants. Three guards were charged over the abuse of detainee Dylan Voller, who was repeatedly stripped, intimidated, beaten, and tear gassed by guards from the age of 13. In one incident, a then 17-year-old Voller was hooded—his eyes covered—and tied into a chair with restraints around his ankles, wrists, shoulders, and neck before being left alone for two hours.

Despite a "lengthy" 2012 investigation into Voller's treatment finding he was subject to "inappropriate and excessive force" the guards charged were all found not guilty. The findings of this investigation were also tabled in parliament, but never made public.

Voller, now 18, is an adult detainee at the Darwin Correctional Centre but gave Four Corners access to video evidence of his abuse inside Don Dale to try and expose the consistent victimisation of young detainees at the centre.

"He's been assaulted, he's been battered and we say those incidents have been unlawful," Voller's lawyer Peter O'Brien told the program. "He wants … to ensure that this doesn't happen to others, so that other kids are not treated in a similar manner."

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